Debt-ridden trio, including LSE graduate, nabbed in cyber-extortion case after Thailand trip

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Delhi Police have arrested three men, including a London School of Economics (LSE) postgraduate, for allegedly running a cyber-extortion racket that spanned from Karol Bagh to Thailand.

The accused — identified as Sumit (42) of West Punjabi Bagh, Prince (35) of Roshanara Road, and Nitish (31) of DLF Capital Greens, Moti Nagar — were picked up upon their return from Thailand.

Police said the case was registered at the DBG Road police station after a complainant reported receiving a threatening international WhatsApp call. The caller, posing as a well-known gangster, demanded cryptocurrency payment via a QR code and threatened to kill the complainant’s children if demands were not met.

Given the seriousness of the case, a joint team from PS DBG Road and PS Cyber was formed under ACP Paharganj Saurabh A. Narender, supervised by Additional DCP-II Prashant Chaudhary.

While the field unit monitored local addresses, the technical team used advanced cyber tools and coordinated with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the MHA to trace the origin of the calls and cryptocurrency trail to Thailand.

Investigators discovered that the accused had flown to Thailand to execute the plan, purchasing an international SIM card there to make WhatsApp calls and evade detection. They had conspired in Delhi before leaving, and one accused, Sumit, who works in the jewellery trade, personally knew the complainant’s family.

During interrogation, the trio admitted they were under heavy debt and sought a “quick fix” through extortion.

To intimidate the victim, they invoked the name of a notorious gangster. Police recovered two mobile phones — one used to generate the crypto QR code and another for the international WhatsApp call.

Sumit is a B.Com graduate, Prince is a school dropout, and Nitish holds a master’s degree from the prestigious LSE.

The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and further investigation is underway to ascertain any links to larger cybercrime networks.

--IANS

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